Dirty Ol' Trick
by Dream Painter
Summary: PERMANENT HIATUS: After a run in with the trickster, Dean finds himself worrying about Sam for a whole new set of reasons. Meanwhile, Sam's current condition might drive them both insane.
1. Chapter 1

-

Dean Winchester sat across from his younger brother, attacking his food with a single-minded ferocity usually reserved for fighting off ghosts and taking down werewolves. Sam watched in fascinated silence. True, they had been especially busy over the past week, but Dean usually... savored his food a bit more.

"Um, Dean?"

His brother looked up at him. "What?" he asked with a full mouth, taking a large gulp of his coffee.

Sam blinked. "Just making sure you're still breathing."

Dean rolled his eyes, stuffing more food into his oral cavity. "An' next you're gonna tell me not to talk with my mouth full, right?" The dark-haired man watched him for another moment of bemused wonder, chuckled, and turned his attention back to his own plate of sustenance.

Moments later, Sam was fending off his sibling's assault on his unfinished food with a fork when a familiar figure entered the diner. His attention diverted, the bacon taken captive by the enemy.

"Sam?" Dean asked, realizing that he really had been able to snatch the fried strip a little too easily. He followed his brother's gaze, then promptly choked on his stolen bounty. "Sam, tell me that's not who I think it is..."

Sam's expression sank at the prospect of facing the maniac again.

Dean groaned. "Aw, shit." It was the trickster.

This wasn't the first time the brothers had run into the mischief-making demigod. In fact, it wasn't even the second time. No, it was the third and on both previous occasions, he had made their life difficult. Sam still didn't forgive him for the last time, and for good reason.

With a cocky smirk, the trickster made his way over to their table, grabbing a chair and sitting at the end, effectively cutting either of them off from getting out of the booth with any sort of ease.

"Hi, Dean," he said. "Sam – how are ya? Been awhile." The trickster was the type of friendly, congenial guy that everybody liked... with the power to create anything that came to his mind and enough mischievousness to be a royal pain in the ass.

"Not long enough," Sam growled.

The demigod chuckled. "Oh, but last time was _so much fun!_ I am insulted that you fail to remember correctly. You, friend, should just let bygones be bygones."

"Did you look for us?" Dean demanded with sudden realization.

"Oh, you two weren't hard to find," said the trickster with a happy smile that made Dean's stomach suddenly feel like it was made of lead. Sam wasn't looking any more happy than he was.

"What do you want?" the younger man asked, knowing that the trickster wouldn't tell them otherwise.

"Why, I'm shocked at you, Sammy-boy! Of course, it's because I've got a new game. I thought it up especially for you, tiger." Rising from his chair and returning it to its place, the trickster gave Sam a wink that made the skin along the back of his neck attempt to crawl up and hide beneath his hair.

Dean opened his mouth to remark, but in that instant, the trickster had vanished. "Okay, so that's more than a little creepy," he uttered instead. "Any idea what his 'new game' is all about?"

Sam shuddered. "Not a clue. I do know one thing, though."

"What's that?"

"We're cursed."

-

"Alright," Dean said as they walked along. "So, the trickster shows up – I think he has a crush on you, by the way, congratulations – says he has a new game and then disappears."

Shooting his brother a glare, Sam picked up the thread of thought. "If we try to go after him, we'll probably be playing right into his hands. But, if we don't..."

"Innocent people could be hurt."

"The more I think about this, the more I just wanna leave town without doing anything," the younger Winchester confessed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah," his brother agreed, "me, too."

"Hey, Sam-bo!" The trickster waved to them from down the street. "Over here!" He disappeared inside a building and after exchanging a hesitant look, the two hunters ran to catch up.

The building appeared to have been abandoned in the midst of construction. All the exterior had been finished, but the inside consisted only of plywood flooring and vertical beams where the walls were supposed to go. "I don't like the looks of this," Dean grumbled.

"Back here, boys!" the trickster's voice filtered through to them. "It's right here in the back!"

"Why do I get the feeling we might regret this?" Sam asked.

"Because you already do?" his sibling ventured.

"Let's get out of here."

"Sounds good." They turned back to the door they had entered simultaneously... to find that it was no longer where they left it. "It was kinda stupid of us to follow him in here," Dean admitted.

"Yeah," Sam sighed miserably.

The trickster's laughter echoed all around them, and as they stood there, the building's shape and dimensions seemed to shift and change.

And people say games should be fun for everyone.

"Oh, come on," the trickster taunted, appearing about 15 feet away from them. "You didn't think I'd let you leave before we got to play, did you?"

Sam let out a heavy, aggravated sigh. "Fine. What's the game?"

"That's the spirit!" The two brothers turned to find that there was another one of the trickster. "Here's the deal..."

A third one appeared and continued, "There are four ways out of the building. Only catch is..."

"They're all booby-trapped!" exclaimed a fourth. "The good news is, only one of you has to be the victim of whatever trap awaits you at an exit."

"After that," said number two, "the rest of the traps will cease to exist and you're both free to go on your way."

"So, you're gonna kill one of us," Dean said, anger coloring his tone.

"Oh, Dean," three shook his head. "Don't be so vulgar – why would I want to kill you?"

"I did that last time, remember?" added one. "This is a brand new game!"

"And remember," four told them cheerfully.

"Have fun!" This was said by all of them, well him, in unison, giving the seemingly harmless phrase a foreboding surround-sound effect. With that, the trickster vanished with four differently colored puffs of smoke.

"Show off," Dean grumbled. "We gotta find a way to kill that guy."

Sam sighed. "You're telling me. Let's find an exit..."

-  
_  
_After approaching several false windows and doors, the two Winchesters were more than a little annoyed.

"Four exits, my ass," Dean muttered. "The annoying little creep probably lied to us. He just wants to watch us fumble around trying to get out."

Sam didn't argue. As far as he was concerned, the trickster could disappear from existence. "Dude. Door," he said, as they rounded a corner. He walked towards it, but Dean put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me go first."

For Sam, that was also getting old. Every potential exit they had come to, Dean had insisted on going first. He could appreciate the fact that his brother didn't want anything to happen to him, but he felt the same way. With a resigned sigh, he waved for Dean to go ahead. It was probably another false door, anyway.

Dean cautiously made his way to the door with no ill-effects. Reaching out for the knob, he opened the door with a jerk and a twist to reveal...

Daylight. Weeds growing through cracks in the pavement of the alleyway. The view of the outdoors caused both brothers to instantly be on guard, but they were too late. When the door opened, a beam of bluish light shot from the doorway... and hit Sam squarely in the chest.

-

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** For a moment, I thought maybe I'd be devious and wait until after my day away was done, but since chapter two is done, I suppose I've really no excuse to postpone. _

_Thanks to all those who are following this story, already, and those of you who have reviewed - you have no idea how much it means to me!!_ _I hope all of you will continue to find it enjoyable. _

-

**Chapter 2**

-

"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed, rushing to his brother's side. He should have known. Of course the damn trickster would find some way to fool them. "Sammy? You alright?"

Sam coughed, winded by the physical blow of the beam that hit him. "Yeah," he grunted. "I'm fine - nothing broke."

"You sure?" the elder Winchester demanded as his brother looked around dazedly for a moment.

The younger man nodded. "Let's get out of here," he said. Dean helped him to his feet and after Sam managed to catch his breath, they headed for the Impala. A second glance confirmed that building appeared just as it had when they approached it. Somehow, it seemed so much larger inside. Granted, they were dealing with mischievous demigod, so it really shouldn't have come as a surprise.

Dean sent a worried glance Sam's direction. Hit with a beam of blue light and they're free to go? It seemed a little too easy...

-

Sam went to bed before him, after finally convincing him that he really was okay, climbing into bed and burying himself beneath the covers. Dean soon followed and the night hours flew.

The younger Winchester was the first to rise, making his way to the bathroom for his morning routine. His brother roused enough to note that he was awake before dozing back to sleep. That is, until a startled cry emerged from the bathroom.

"Sam?" Dean was up at the door in an instant.

"Don't come in!!" Sam's voice sounded... unusually high-pitched.

"Sam, open the door!" his brother demanded worriedly. No response. "_Sam-my!_"

Finally, the door opened and a girl stood there, brown hair hanging into her face. She wore one of Sam's t-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts.

"Oh... uh," Dean flashed an self-conscious smile. "Sorry – didn't know my brother had company."

She drew in a deep breath. "Dean, it's me," she told him.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm Sam."

Dean blinked at the girl in front of him. She didn't look like she have been more than 18 or 19 years old_. _She was about 5'6" with pleasant curves that were not beyond notice despite her baggy attire. In fact, the messy bedroom look _really_ worked for her – and that wasn't necessarily Dean's big brain talking. He was just thinking that his brother had great taste in girls when he heard what she was _saying._

"What?!" the elder Winchester exclaimed, jumping back.

"The trickster," she said, her words contorted with distaste and loathing, "he must've _changed_ me." Misery was clearly visible on her - no, HIS delicate features.

"Oh – that is just WRONG!" Dean exclaimed, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. He wanted to crawl into bed and never come out, the thought that he'd just checked out his own brother enough to make him never be able to keep down another morsel of food again.

"You're telling me!" Sam snarled. Apparently, a dose of estrogen this early in the morning didn't agree with him too well. That thought made Dean laugh.

Familiar hazel eyes glared up at him and in that moment of undeniable recognition, Dean felt his lips twist into an amused smirk.

"This isn't funny, Dean."

A snort made its was past Dean's defenses as he attempted to school his features.

"This _isn't_ funny," Sam reiterated.

"Oh, I don't know," Dean couldn't help but remark, "this is sorta funny." Sam glowered at him, but it no longer held the same effect. Dean burst into laughter.

"Right," Sammy was fuming. "Yuck it up, why don't you?"

"I'm sor-sorry, Sam," Dean gasped, "I know... I shouldn't laugh, but – he got you! The guy has some sorta unhealthy infatuation with you and he to..." A burst of helpless giggles. "Totally got you in th-the worst way possible."

Sam remained unamused by the situation. "You realize I might be stuck like this, right?" he demanded, his eyes flickering with anger.

Dean abruptly stopped laughting. "Oh, shit!"

-

Sam had managed to get his pants to stay in place with use of a belt, the material bunching up in a manner that was less than fashionable. His torso was fully concealed underneath several layers, the outermost of which was a sweatshirt that hung halfway to his knees, hiding the atrocious state of his jeans.

His appearance was completed with the pout of the oppressed, giving him the aura of a preppy teen who was dragged along on her hokey parents' asinine camping trip. Dean resisted the urge to tell his brother how well he was pulling off the whole girl thing.

They headed back to the diner where they had first run into the trickster the day before. No luck. Afterward, they made their way to the abandoned building. It didn't seem nearly as big inside now that the demigod's influence had left, nonetheless, it still took them a few minutes to find the door through which they had finally escaped.

"It's not working, Dean," Sam sighed as his brother closed the door for the third or fourth time.

"I know," the elder Winchester said. "Let's try one more time. Let's see - I think you were standing right about... here." Sam released a frustrated sigh as his brother repositioned him about a foot to the right with disheartening ease.

"Dean..."

"Then, I approached the door like this," Dean continued the demonstration. Sam sighed again. "And I reached out and opened it like – THIS!" With an expert twist of his wrist, Dean jerked the door open. Sam jumped back in surprise and Dean followed his startled gaze.

Standing in the doorway, a self-satisfied smirk upon his face as he rocked back on his heels, was the trickster. Overcoming his surprise, Sam charged at him.

"Now, now, _now_, Sammy-boy," the Trickster chuckled, effortlessly holding the enraged hunter at bay with a slight wave of his hand. "Whatever are you so worked up about?"

"You bastard!" Sam growled. "This isn't funny – change me back!"

"You don't like it? But you look so nice! I mean, the outfit could use some work, but I think that I have made you into a very attractive young woman." The younger Winchester gave him a glare with enough venom to eat through concrete.

A gun cocked and the demigod turned to find that Dean had crept around him while he'd been focusing on Sam. "I think you should do as he says," he stated, letting the weapon do all the persuading.

The Trickster looked at him like he was mentally deficient.

"Seriously, Dean?" he asked. "You impaled me with a _stake_ – a big one, at that. That didn't kill me. Do really think bullets will work any better?"

"Dunno," Dean smirked. "Wanna find out?"

The Trickster let out a defeated sigh, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Fine," he said. "Fine, I'll do as you ask..."

The hunters exchanged a suspicious glance, Dean pulling the trigger another fraction of an inch.

A devious smile spread across the demigod's face and he winked mischievously at Sam. "But, you'll have to catch me first." Dean fired the gun – anything to slow the maniac down – but the Trickster had already vanished.

The elder Winchester cursed under his breath. "Sammy, you okay?" he asked after a moment.

Sam stood in utter shock for a moment, staring blankly at the spot where the Trickster had stood seconds before.

"Sam?" Dean watched as his brother's expression darkened into a malevolent scowl that even he found a bit frightening.

"I'm going to kill him," Sam declared. Dean didn't doubt for a second that he absolutely meant it.

-

_To be continued..._

_-_

_**A/N: **For a writer, reviews really do make the world go 'round...  
_


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